Stacking type chess game apparatus

ABSTRACT

A modified chess game comprising a set of chess pieces having a slab-like configuration such that one piece can be stacked upon another and a third piece placed upon the stack of two, and so forth. The pieces conventionally are divided into two groups, one group belonging to each player. The two broad opposite faces of each piece are marked with identifying symbols corresponding to those of a conventional chess set. In addition, two opposite edge portions of each piece are marked or color coded so as to enable the identity of the piece as well as the ownership to be readily ascertained from either side, as when several of such pieces are stacked one upon another. The modified chess game is adapted to be played on a game board advantageously having nine or sixteen alternating squares of contrasting color. The rules permit stacking of one piece upon another, as well as other variations upon conventional chess procedures.

United States Patent [191 Bialek [45] Apr. 23, 1974 STACKING TYPE CHESS GAME APPARATUS [76] Inventor: Norman Bialek, 14 Broad View Rd,

Westport, Conn. 0661 1 22 Filed: Jan. 2, 1973 21 Appl.No.:320,294

[52] Cl. 273/131 AC, 273/131 AB, 273/131 K,

Primary ExaminerDelbert B. Lowe Attorney, Agent, or Firm-H. Gibner Lehmann; K. Gibner Lehmann [5 7] ABSTRACT A modified chess game comprising a set of chess pieces having a slab-like configuration such that one piece can be stacked upon another and a third piece placed upon the stack of two, and so forth. The pieces conventionally are divided into two groups, one group belonging to each player. The two broad opposite faces of each piece are marked with identifying symbols corresponding to those of a conventional chess set. In addition, two opposite edge portions of each piece are marked or color coded so as to enable the identity of the piece as well as the ownership to be readily ascertained from either side, as when several of such pieces are stacked one upon another. The modified chess game is adapted to be played on a game board advantageously having nine or sixteen alternating squares of contrasting color. The rules permit stacking of one piece upon another, as well as other variations upon conventional chess procedures.

7 Claims, 30 Drawing Figures STACKING TYPE CHESS GAME APPARATUS BACKGROUND This invention relates generally to chess games, and more particularly to non-conventional chess games employing chess pieces having a modified configuration. Chess has been played for hundreds of years with virtually no changes being evolved in the configuration of the board or the character of the pieces. The conventional game employs a board having a total of 64 squares of alternating and contrasting colors, and sixteen playing pieces for each of the two players. While there are unlimited variations of playing situations which are possible in conventional chess, there is a tendency for the game to become monotonous after prolonged periods of play. In addition, since there is a high degree of individual skill involved, usually the more experienced player will emerge victorious over the less experienced player. Hence it has been desirable, in the past, for a player to seek out for an opponent someone of comparable skill and experience, in order to provide for a challenging and interesting game. Such opponent is not always available.

SUMMARY The above drawbacks of prior chess games are obviated by the present invention, which has for an object the provision of a novel and improved chess game which effectively alleviates the monotony of conventional chess and yet provides a substantial challenge to both the experienced player and the relative newcomer. A related object is to provide a modified chess game wherein a three-dimensional moving capability is permitted, to add greatly to the variety and enjoyment of the game. The above objects are accomplished by the provision of a set of chess pieces of slab-like configuration, such that one piece can be stacked upon another, a third upon the first two, and so forth. The pieces are marked or color coded on both the faces and edges so that when several of such pieces are stacked one on top of another, each piece can be identified not only as to the type but also as to the ownership. The present chess game is preferably played on a board having either nine or sixteen alternating squares of contrasting color. In addition to the usual moves permitted by conventional chess, players may stack pieces vertically one on top of another, thus providing additional interest and variation to the game.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings, illustrating several embodiments of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of several of the chess pieces and of the playing board as provided by the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of onepiece of the chess set as employed in the game of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a somewhat enlarged front elevational view of the chess piece shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of the chess piece shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 5 is a somewhat enlarged left end elevational view of the piece shown in FIGS. 2-4.

FIG. 6 is a somewhat enlarged right end elevational view of the piece shown in FIGS. 2-5.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of another piece of the chess set, the piece being color coded to designate that it belongs to the opposing player.

FIG. 8 is a somewhat enlarged front elevational view of the chess piece of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the chess piece of FIGS. 7-8.

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of still another chess piece of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged front elevational view of the piece shown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the piece shown in FIGS. 10-11.

FIG. 13 is a top plan view of still another piece of the chess set of the invention.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged front-elevational view of the piece shown in FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the piece shown in FIGS. 13-14.

FIG. 16 is a top plan view of yet another piece of the chess set of the invention.

FIG. 17 is a somewhat enlarged front elevational view of the piece of FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the piece of FIGS. 16-17.

FIG. 19 is a top plan view of still another piece of the chess set.

FIG. 20 is a somewhat enlarged front elevational view of the piece of FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the piece of FIGS. 19-20.

FIG. 22 is a top plan view of one form of playing board as employed by the chess game of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a top plan view of a modified playing board, constituting another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 24 is a top plan view of a modified chess piece, constituting yet another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 25 is a somewhat enlarged front elevational view of the piece shown in FIG. 24, the edge portion in this view having a predetermined color designating a particular type of playing piece.

FIG. 26 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the piece shown in FIGS. 24-25, the edge portion in this view being similarly color coded.

FIG. 27 is an enlarged left end elevational view of the piece shown in FIGS. 24-26, the edge portion being color coded to designate the ownership of the piece.

FIG. 28 is an enlarged right end elevational view of the piece shown in FIGS. 24-27, the edge portion in this view being similarly color coded to designate the ownership.

FIG. 29 is a somewhat enlarged front elevational view of still another modified playing piece, the edge portion which is in view having a colored dot indicating the type of piece and a colored background indicating the ownership. 7

FIG. 30 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the modified piece shown in FIG. 29, the edge portion in view being similarly coded to indicate the type of playing piece and ownership.

Referring first to FIG. 1, in accordance with the present invention there is provided a novel, stacking-type chess game generally designated by the numeral 10, comprising a game board 12 and a series of chess pieces 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24. The chess piece 14 is particularly illustrated in FIGS. 2-6, and has a slab-like configuration comprising a pair of oppositely disposed flat faces 26, 28 of appreciable expanse, and two sets of oppositely disposed edge portions 30, 32 and 34, 36 of lesser expense, such that a series of such pieces can be readily stacked one upon the other on a playing board in the manner of FIG. 1. In FIGS. 2-6, the piece 14 has an identifying designation in the form of an outline 38 having the shape of a conventional playing piece, in this case a Knight. In addition, each of the opposite edge portions 30, 32 is provided with distinguishing indicia 40 in the form of an outline of reduced size whereby the type of piece can be readily discerned from the side, even when several pieces are stacked one upon another. The background of all edge portions 30, 32 as well as all of the edge portions 34, 36 are color coded dark or light to indicate the player to which each piece belongs.

In the game of the present invention a total of 32 pieces is employed, corresponding to the pieces of a conventional chess set. The pieces are divided into two groups of 16 each, defining two opposing teams or players. FIGS. 7-9 show another chess piece 42, belonging to the opposite player from that owning the piece 14. It is similar to the piece of FIGS. 2-6, except for the light background on the face 44 and on the edge portions 46, 48 indicating the ownership. The remaining pieces of the said opposite player are shown in FIGS. -12, 13-15, 16-18, and 19-21, respectively, the pieces being indicated by the numerals 50, 52, 54 and 56, and corresponding to the chess pieces Queen, King, Bishop, and Pawn, respectively. As shown, the one set of opposite edge portions of each piece is identified with an outline of the shape of the playing piece to which it corresponds and each has a color coded light or dark" background indicating the ownership. The other set of opposite edge portions is similarly color coded to indicate such ownership.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 24-28, showing a modified chess piece 58 having oppositely disposed faces 60, 62 of appreciable expanse and two sets of opposite edge portions 64, 66 and 68, 70, respectively, of lesser expanse. By the present invention, the piece 58 has an identifying designation 72 on the face 60 indicating the type of playing piece, in this case a Pawn, and the front and rear edges 64, 66 of the piece are color coded also to indicate the type of playing piece. For instance, Pawns could be identified by the color green; similarly Rooks could be red; Bishops, yelllow; Knights, orange; King, blue, and Queen, purple. In FIGS. 27 and 28, the other set of opposite edge portions 68, 70 is also color coded, in this case light, to identify ownership of the piece by one player. For example, edge portions 68, 70 could be white, and the corresponding edge portions of the pieces belonging to the opposite player could be black. By the above arrangement, all of the chess pieces can be identified from the side of each, so that there is no need to disturb a stack of pieces such as those designated 14, 16, 18 in FIG. 1 to ascertain the character of the lower ones 16, 18.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 29 and 30, which show one set of opposite edge portions 74, 76 of a further modified chess piece 72. The edge portions 74, 76 have colored marks 78, 80 in the form of dots for indicating the type of piece. Color coding similar to that mentioned above in connection with FIGS. 24-28 could be employed in the present case, wherein a green dot would indicate a Pawn, and so forth. In addition, the background areas 82, 83 of each edge portion are color coded to designate ownership of the piece. For instance, the areas 82 and 83 could be coded white, and corresponding areas on the pieces of the opposing player coded black. By such an arrangement the character of each piece can be ascertained by referring to not more than one edge portion of the piece in question. This greatly facilitates play of the game, as will be described below.

Referring now to FIGS. 22 and 23, the stacking-type chess game can be played on a square playing board 12 having nine alternating squares 84, 86, 88, 90, 92, 94, 96, 98, and 100, of contrasting colors. Alternately, a larger board 13 comprising sixteen squares 102-132 can be used. The game employs the general rules of chess with several variations. Each player has 16 pieces, corresponding to those of a conventional chess set, and one player is assigned one half of the total pieces, the other player having the other half. To commence play, each player places only some of his pieces on the board. In the nine-square version of FIG. 22, one player places his King, covered by one of his Pawns, on square 98, and the other player places his corresponding pieces on square 86. In the sixteen-square version of FIG. 23, one player places his King on square 106 and his Queenon square 104, and then covers both pieces with Pawns. The other player places his King on square and his Queen on square 128 and covers each with a Pawn. The remaining pieces are held in reserve off the board.

One player (white) begins play by moving. There are several alternatives. A player can reposition an uncovered piece, already on the board, in the conventional manner, and such a piece may land either on a vacant square or on top of another of his own pieces. There is no limit to the number of pieces that can be stacked in a single square. An uncovered piece can also land on an opponents piece, but only as the result of taking the piece, or of taking the top piece in the case of a stack of opponents pieces. Only the top piece on a square occupied by more than one piece is exposed to capture. A Pawn can advance two squares (forward only) from the first rank and one square from the other ranks. A Pawn occupying the highest rank is temporarily promoted to Queen, but reverts to Pawn after a move by which it departs from that highest rank. An alternate move by a player is to enter a reserve piece into play by placing it on any vacant square or on top of one of the players own pieces. A Pawn can be entered in the players first and second ranks only. Also, a player cannot have two Bishops that have access to the same diagonal on the board at the same time. Two Bishops of the same player must be stationed on squares of different colors.

In order to win, a player must checkmate his opponent. As in conventional chess, a player is not permitted to move his King into check. If a player has no legal move available to him at his turn, he must resign. Also, a player whose King lands directly on top of the opposing King has forfeited his chances of checkmating his opponent. As in conventional chess, a player can resign at any time, in which case his opponent wins; also, the players can agree upon a draw at any time.

From the above it can be seen that I have provided a novel chess game which greatly adds to the enjoyment of chess-type games by providing additional variations and playing situation possibilities. In addition, the game of the present invention tends to equalize the chances of winning between players of different chess ability and experience. The game thus represents a distinct advance and improvement in the art of chess and chess-like games.

Variations and modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A stacking type chess game, comprising in combination:

a. a set of chess pieces, each having a slab-like configuration and comprising a pair of oppositely disposed flat faces of appreciable expanse and at least one set of oppositely disposed edge portions of lesser expanse, such that the pieces can be readily stacked one upon another,

b. each of said pieces having an identifying designation on at least one of said opposite faces, said designation representing a conventional playing piece of a chess set,

c. said pieces being divided into two equal groups,

the pieces of one of said groups each having distinguishing indicia on its set of opposite edge portions indicating ownership by one player, and the pieces of the other of said groups each having indicia different from the first group on its set of opposite edge portions, indicating ownership bythe other player,

d. each of said pieces of both groups further having distinguishing indicia on a set of opposite edge portions indicating the type of playing piece,

e. said distinguishing indicia enabling the ownership of a particular piece as well as the type of piece to be readily discerned from one side of the piece when the latter is disposed in a stack of other similarly marked pieces.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1, and further including:

a. a playing board having a substantially square configuration, and consisting of nine alternating squares of contrasting colors.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 1, and further including:

a. a playing board having a substantially square configuration, and consisting of sixteen alternating squares of contrasting colors.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 1, and further including:

a. a playing board having a substantially square configuration, comprising alternating squares of contrasting colors, said squares numbering less than 64.

5. The invention as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

a. said distinguishing indicia comprises coloring on the respective edge portions.

6. The invention as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

a. said distinguishing indicia comprises an outline of the shape of a conventional chess piece.

7. The invention as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

a. said distinguishing indicia comprises a colored marker. 

1. A stacking type chess game, comprising in combination: a. a set of chess pieces, each having a slab-like configuration and comprising a pair of oppositely disposed flat faces of appreciable expanse and at least one set of oppositely disposed edge portions of lesser expanse, such that the pieces can be readily stacked one upon another, b. each of said pieces having an identifying designation on at least one of said opposite faces, said designation representing a conventional playing piece of a chess set, c. said pieces being divided into two equal groups, the pieces of one of said groups each having distinguishing indicia on its set of opposite edge portions indicating ownersHip by one player, and the pieces of the other of said groups each having indicia different from the first group on its set of opposite edge portions, indicating ownership by the other player, d. each of said pieces of both groups further having distinguishing indicia on a set of opposite edge portions indicating the type of playing piece, e. said distinguishing indicia enabling the ownership of a particular piece as well as the type of piece to be readily discerned from one side of the piece when the latter is disposed in a stack of other similarly marked pieces.
 2. The invention as set forth in claim 1, and further including: a. a playing board having a substantially square configuration, and consisting of nine alternating squares of contrasting colors.
 3. The invention as set forth in claim 1, and further including: a. a playing board having a substantially square configuration, and consisting of sixteen alternating squares of contrasting colors.
 4. The invention as set forth in claim 1, and further including: a. a playing board having a substantially square configuration, comprising alternating squares of contrasting colors, said squares numbering less than
 64. 5. The invention as set forth in claim 1, wherein: a. said distinguishing indicia comprises coloring on the respective edge portions.
 6. The invention as set forth in claim 1, wherein: a. said distinguishing indicia comprises an outline of the shape of a conventional chess piece.
 7. The invention as set forth in claim 1, wherein: a. said distinguishing indicia comprises a colored marker. 